Labour ministry continues to help non-unionised workers

The Jamaica Observer, 7 July 2000

THE Pay and Conditions of Employment Department of the Ministry of
Labour and Social Security last year processed 1,131 complaints,
conducted 291 investigations and carried out 216 inspections on behalf
of non-unionised workers.

Reporting on the department's performance during the 2000/01 sectoral
debate in Parliament, labour and social security minister, Donald
Buchanan, said the activity had resulted in a proprietor voluntarily
paying out $8.6 million to 288 workers.

"The Pay and Conditions of Employment branch has been entrusted
with the job of visiting industrial undertakings and commercial
entities throughout the country ... to inspect wage records,
investigate complaints and deal with matters relating to conditions of
employment of non-unionised workers," the minister explained.

Buchanan said the Labour Officer's Power Act gave the department's
officers the authority to enter premises where workers were employed,
at any time of day or night, to inspect records and see whether they
were in line with the national minimum wage law.